Aladdin (2019) - A Half-Arsed Wannabe Bollywood Musical

Disney live action remakes continue to be a divisive conversation topic for film critics and audiences alike. And while some have a consistent level of feedback, others such as 2019's remake of Aladdin seem to get mixed responses, depending on who you speak to. And just looking at the poster artwork, it's very easy to see this film embracing the Bollywood musical genre, in order to give this film a real sense of being unique, something that many of the modern Disney remakes can't make a real claim for. Sadly though, many factors leaves this film feel lacking and half arsed.

This film is a disappointment, and doesn't give the same level of thrilling energy that the 1991 animated version brought to audiences over the years. As with the remake of The Lion King, this film is essentially the same story, but with a new coat of paint. And even then, despite the film's running time being longer than the 90s classic, the story itself feels rushed. Just looking at the opening number, the introduction of key plot points and locations is just rushed by as if it's highlights from a powerpoint presentation. The film is also considerably duller looking than other interpretations of this classic tale. This is an issue I have with a lot of modern Disney films. The way they handle their digital cinematography results in flat images with lacklustre colour levels. The darkest and lightest areas of the frame are never defined properly by the colour grading team, meaning colours aren't able to be defined enough for them to indivudally pop off the screen. This makes the moments where they are clearly trying to pay homage to traditional Bollywood musicals far less impressive. There are hints that the film makers wanted this to be an adaptation of Aladdin in that genre, with the vibrant costumes and extravagant dance numbers, yet they never fully embraced that style of film making outside of the final dance number. The Prince Ali sequence was more reminence of something you'd see at a Disney theme park, and left me very unimpressed.

Mena Massoud is an excellent visual match for our titular street rat, and really shows off some incredible dance moves throughout the film. However, his vocal delivery comes across as flat and uninspired, not helped by a singing voice that lacks passion and flare. Aladdin as a character is meant to be very street wise, and able to roll off spontaneous responses and excuses off his tongue with ease. However, it never feels like this interpretation of the character is coming up with his witty responses with ease, but instead rather reading off a script. On the opposing side, Naomi Scott was an exceptional portrayal of Jasmine, not only being a perfect visual match, but also conveying the stand off and no nonsense attitude of this popular princess. She is also subject to one of the few new additions that mostly works really well. The song, Speechless was very powerful and well sung by Scott. But two factors within the narrative stops the song from being an exceptional moment. One being the fact that having sang about not being speechless, Jasmine quickly agrees to be silenced, while in the original animation, she doesn't have control over the matter, making the song feel slightly redundant. Additionally, we see soldiers dissolve away during the song, but what could've been more interesting would be to see Jasmine take on the soldiers in hand to hand combat during the song, adding an extra level of meaning to the song's message.

Will Smith brings his usual charm as the genie, but it's clear the studio executives are more interested in recapturing the larger than life persona of Robin Williams, rather than letting Smith give his own take on this popular character. And it's clear that the intentions to recapture Williams' performance are a hinderance on this interpretation, because whenever we see the genie do something akin to the 90's interpretation, it becomes distracting and doesn't suit the rest of the genie's persona in this film. The genie here is more wholesome, and less of a giant ball of fireworks. However, Smith's casting was still an excellent choice, and was far better than the decision to cast Marwan Kenzari as a dull and boring Jafar, who's about as threatening as a dead leaf. Now, it should be noted that a lot of the issues with this villain's characterisation comes down to how he has been written, but combine that and a poor choice in casting, and you get a version of Jafar who is soft spoken, and doesn't convey any level of threat to the characters or the audiences watching him. It's not helped that the replaced the tense and thrilling climax from the 90s film with... a giant parrot. The ending of this film is a ridiculous change that just leaves me scratching my head, rather than becoming engaged with this pathetic excuse for drama.

This remake of Aladdin leaves a sour taste in my mouth, taking a film that was filled with vibrancy and energy, and producing something drab and lacklustre. If the film makers had been allowed the creative freedom to do something unique, we could've seen Aladdin produced as a traditional Bollywood musical, but instead we have a flat looking copy and paste film that only serves the nostalgic and those looking for a modern look to all films they watch. I still uphold that some areas such as Naomi Scott as Jasmine, and the backing music provides some rare key areas, but it's not enough to say it's worth the time to watch it. I won't be revisiting this film any time soon. I'd rather sit through something shorter, colourful and with far better performances, instead of something that only reinforces the focus Disney has on easy money, instead of producing something of high quality!

SCORES

Story - 1.5/5

Characters - 2/5

Production - 2/5

Acting - 2.5/5

Music - 3.5/5

TOTAL - 4.6/10